Transferring to top school with excess community college units

Other things to take into consideration:

Many of the CC transfers from NYS CC’s are part of the already established articulation agreements that Cornell has with many of the SUNY/CUNY Schools.
These students are transferring after completing an associates degree for which Cornell has also specified the coursework needed.

https://admissions.cals.cornell.edu/apply/transfer/transfer-agreements

Cornell is also the only Ivy that gives guaranteed transfers for students not picked up in the freshman round. They recommend that they start their freshman year else where, maintain a certain GPA and then come sophomore year.

You also do not know how many students are transferring into Cornell from HEOP/EOP, SEEK and CD plans fron other NYS public and private schools.

If you look at the schools with the largest number of transfer students, it is heavily skewed toward the three land grant colleges at Cornell, where NYS students are charged a lower in-state tuition rate.